Mr. Speaker, let me first begin by saying that had that member of Parliament or any member of Parliament come to me at any time, from the time this program was committed, and stated that they believed there was possible fraud or possible criminal action taking place, I certainly would not have closed my eyes. I do not appreciate that being imputed to me or to any other member in the House.
How did this program start, who decided it was to be created and who decided it would operate outside of the regular structures of control and supervision that exist within any government department, is what Canadians want to know, what I want to know and what the Auditor General was unable to determine because it was outside of the scope of her jurisdiction.
However, that is within the scope of the public accounts committee. That is precisely the point I attempted to make when I talked about what the public accounts committee could do in order to answer some of the questions being asked by Canadians and members on both sides of the House, including the Prime Minister.